Happy birthday, astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson!

Robert "Hoot" Gibson, born October 30, 1946 in Cooperstown, New York, is a veteran of five space shuttle missions.

His first mission was as pilot on Challenger (STS-41-B) in February 1984.  It was the first flight to involve an untethered spacewalk.  He spent almost 8 days in space and completed 128 orbits.

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-61-C) as commander in January 1986, the last shuttle mission before the Challenger disaster. He spent over 6 days in space and completed 98 orbits.

Gibson's third mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as commander in December 1988.  It was a classified payload for the US Department of Defense. He spent over four days in space and completed 68 orbits.

His fourth flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-47) as commander in September 1992.  He carried the first Japanese astronaut, Mamoru Mohri, and the first African-American woman, Mae Jemison into space.  He spent almost 8 days in space and completed 126 orbits.

His fifth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-71) in June-July 1995 to the Russian space station Mir.  It was the first space shuttle docking with Mir.  He spent almost 10 days in space and completed 153 orbits. 

He married fellow astronaut Rhea Seddon in May 1981.  He retired from NASA in November 1996 and became a pilot for Southwest Airlines.  

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Guy Gardner!

Guy Gardner, born January 6, 1948 in Altavista, Virginia, is a veteran of two space flights.  He has been a test pilot and pilot instructor for the US Air Force and attained the rank of colonel.

His first trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as pilot in December 1988.  It was a mission for the Department of Defense.

His second and final trip was aboard Columbia (STS-35) as pilot in December 1990.  The mission was dedicated to astronomical observations with ASTRO-1.  

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Mike Mullane!

Richard "Mike" Mullane, born September 10, 1945 in Wichita Falls, Texas, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights and has spent over 2 weeks in space.  As a colonel in the Air Force, he flew combat missions in the Vietnam War in 1969.  He was chosen by NASA to become an astronaut in 1978. 

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-41-D) as mission specialist in August-September 1984.  During this flight, three commercial communications satellites were deployed.

His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as mission specialist in December 1988.  During lift-off, the heat shield was damaged and impacted the right wing.  They managed to complete the mission successfully and land on December 6 without incident.  However, this same scenario proved fatal for the crew of Columbia 15 years later.

Mullane's third and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-36) as mission specialist February-March 1990.  It carried a classified payload for the Department of Defense, like his previous mission.

After retiring from NASA, he wrote a book, Riding Rockets:  The Outrageous Tales of a  Space Shuttle Astronaut, which describes his experiences as a space shuttle astronaut.

Happy birthday, Expedition 1 commander William Shepherd!

William Shepherd, born July 26, 1949 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is a veteran of three shuttle missions and was a member of the first crew aboard the International Space Station.  He was selected as an astronaut for NASA in 1984. 

His first mission into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as mission specialist in December 1988.  Atlantis carried payloads for the Department of Defense so many of the details of the trip are classified.

Shepherd's second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-41) in October 1990.  This mission deployed the Ulysses probe to investigate polar regions of the Sun.

His third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-52) October-November 1992, which deployed the Laser Geodynamic Satellite.

In 1993, he was assigned to become the commander of Expedition 1 to the ISS aboard Soyuz TM-31 in October 2000.  With cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, he stayed on board until March 2001.  They returned to Earth aboard Discovery (STS-102).

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jerry Ross!

Jerry Lynn Ross, born January 20, 1948 in Crown Point, Indiana, is a veteran of 7 space shuttle flights, tying Franklin Chang-Diaz for the most flights.

His first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-61-B) as mission specialist November-December 1985.  He performed 2 6-hour space walks to demonstrate space station construction techniques.

His second was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) in December 1988 as mission specialist. This trip was cut short due to critical heat-resistant tiles being damaged during liftoff.

During his third flight, back on Atlantis (STS-37) in April 1991, he performed two more EVAs to deploy the Gamma Ray Observatory antenna and test prototype software for the Space Station Freedom.

He served as Payload Commander/Mission Specialist on Columbia (STS-55) in April-May 1993.

He returned to space on Atlantis (STS-74) in November 1995 to space station Mir. 

In December 1998, he was on Endeavour (STS-88), which was the first International Space Station assembly mission.  Ross performed 3 EVAs totaling 21 hours 22 minutes to connect umbilicals and attach tools and hardware.

His final flight was on Atlantis (STS-110) April 2002, when he performed 2 EVAs for just over 14 hours.

Ross retired from NASA on January 28, 2012 being the first person to go into space 7 times.

Atlantis (STS-27) launched 1988

Back row, L-R: William Shepherd, Richard Mullane. Front row, L-R: Guy Gardner, Robert Gibson, Jerry Ross.

Mission Patch

Atlantis (STS-27), the second Space Shuttle flight after the Challenger disaster, launched December 2, 1988.  It was a mission for the Department of Defense, so its payload and purpose were classified.  Her crew consisted of Commander Robert Gibson, Pilot Guy Gardner (not the Green Lantern), Mission Specialist 1 Richard Mullane, Mission Specialist 2 Jerry Ross and Mission Specialist 3 William Shepherd.

During the ascent the Thermal Protection System tiles were damaged by ablative insulating material from the right SRB.  The crew reported they saw white material on the windshield at various times during ascent.  They tried to examine the starboard side of Atlantis with the Canadarm but could not determine the full extent of the damage.  Due to the sensitive nature of the mission, the crew could not send hi-res photos to the ground to assess the damage.  The poor resolution pics weren't enough to tell what had happened, either.  NASA told the crew that the damage didn't look any worse than previous shuttle incidents.  Small comfort for the crew.

It has been reported that Commander Gibson thought the crew would perish upon re-entry, but miraculously, Atlantis landed safely December 6, despite being one of the most damaged shuttles to return.